Share this article

Plisson drop denies Bordeaux

The Parisians had lost their two games in the Top 14, but became only the second team to beat Bordeaux on their own patch thanks to tries from Raphaël Lakafia and Rabah Slimani.

Bordeaux, who have been so dominant at home all year, looked a little out of sorts, with their injury list in the three-quarters taking its toll. However they stayed in touch, and with Stade down to 14 men, they finally got their first try in the dying stages through Louis-Benoit Madaule, with Lionel Beauxis putting the home side up by two points.

There was still time for Stade to come back though, and after working their way into position, Plisson held his nerve and slotted the drop goal for the win.

Bordeaux made the better start and while they weren't able to get over the line, three penalties from Pierre Bernard allowed them to stretch into a 9-3 lead, with Morne Steyn countering with one penalty for the visitors.

It could have been more for Raphaël Ibanez's side, but Yann Lesgourgues was a little greedy after a great run, trying to go all the way himself when Lionel Beauxis was on hand for what should have been a simple two-on-one.

Still, Bordeaux were the dominant side in the opening 20 minutes, however the dynamic of the game changed when Matthew Clarkin was sin-binned for the hosts. He was yellow-carded for a tip tackle on Julien Tomas, although the decision seemed a little harsh given that he controlled the scrum-half's return to the ground.

With an extra man, Stade looked much more dangerous, and after a first try from Zak Taulafo was disallowed for playing the ball in the ruck, they did go over through Lakafia. The former Biarritz back row spotted a gap in the Bordeaux fringe defence around a ruck and powered straight through after Meyer Bosman had initially been stopped just short of the line.

Clarkin returned but the momentum was with the Parisians, and they stretched their lead to 17-9 after more good work from their forwards. After struggling initially to break through the Bordeaux defence, Slimani stayed on his feet trying to offload, before realising he could reach the line himself and stretched out to place the ball against the base of the post. Steyn converted to make the most of the visitors' dominance in the second quarter.

Bordeaux finished the half a little stronger, and at least cut the deficit back to five points before the break thanks to a fourth penalty of the afternoon from Bernard.

The home side added three points early in the second half with another penalty from Bernard to cut the deficit back down to two points.

In the heat though, both teams seemed to struggle to get their game going again, however Stade were getting the upper hand in the scrum and they earned a penalty which Jules Plisson slotted to make it 20-15 to the visitors.

While Bordeaux looked more dangerous when they had the ball, they were paying the price for a misfiring set-piece, with both the visitors dominating both the scrum and the lineout.

However Bordeaux kept coming and with five minutes remaining they set up a rolling maul that had Stade in trouble. Scott Lavalla came in from the side to stop it and was sin-binned as a result.

With an extra man, Bordeaux went through their forwards, and it was skipper Madaule who just managed to dot down with two minutes remaining.

Still, they weren't home and dry, and after some patient build-up play, Plisson knocked over the winning kick.